          
          
          
                    Reduce Your Taxes With An Easement
          
          Sale of Development Easements
          
               If you live in a rural or semi-rural area, there
          are several techniques that might fit your
          circumstances.
          
               The first is the sale of an agricultural easement. 
          There are a number of state and local government
          programs that pay farmers not to develop their land. 
          In some cases the government has paid landowners their
          entire purchase price -- or more -- in exchange for
          promising not to build. 
          
               Agricultural land preservation programs have been
          established by several state governments to protect
          agricultural land and woodlands from urban development. 
          (More such programs are being created in other states,
          so check your state or local government directly to be
          sure there isn't a new program available.)  To achieve
          this, what is usually a politically appointed
          agricultural land preservation trust will purchase a
          farm owner's right to develop his land, through what is
          called a development easement.
          
               For this, the trust will pay the appraised fair-
          market value for the land less its agricultural value
          (based on the land's economic capability of
          successfully producing viable agricultural products). 
          If you have owned the land for some time -- or if the
          agricultural value is small -- the easement development
          rights could easily exceed your purchase price.
          
               And from then on your land will be taxed only on
          its agricultural value, because you no longer have the
          right to develop it.
          
               It is beyond the scope of this report to detail
          these programs -- but as a tax reduction strategy they
          are superb if you have a suitable property.  Here are
          the programs we are currently aware of:
                    Connecticut
                         Farm Preservation Program
                         165 Capital Avenue
                         Hartford CT 06106
                         (203) 566-3227
          
                    Maryland
                         Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation
                         Room 104
                         50 Harry S. Truman Parkway
                         Annapolis MD 21401
                         (301) 841-5860
          
                    Massachusetts
                         Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program
                         142 Old Common Road
                         Lancaster MA 01523
                         (508) 792-7711
          
                    New Hampshire
                         Farmland Preservation Program
                         Caller Box 2042
                         Concord NH 03302-2042
                         (6034) 271-3557
          
                    New Jersey
                         Farmland Preservation Program
                         State Department of Agriculture
                         C.N. 330
                         Trenton NJ 08625
                         (609) 984-2500
          
                    Rhode Island
                         Farmland Preservation Program
                         DEM Division of Agriculture
                         22 Hayes Street
                         Providence RI 02908
                         (401) 277-2781
          
          
          Gifts of Conservation Easements
          
               If there is no purchase program in your area,
          there is another technique that can achieve similar
          results.  If you have suitable property, you can donate
          a development easement or a conservation easement to a
          charitable organization.  Most states have affiliates
          of such groups as The Nature Conservancy, the Trust for
          Public Land, the National Audubon Society, or many
          similar groups.   In many areas local, county, or state
          governments are prepared to accept such donations.
               A development easement is similar to the ones
          discussed above under state programs, with the
          difference being that you are donating it instead of
          selling it.  A conservation easement is a similar grant
          that restricts a particular piece of land to
          conservation purposes, such as preserving your pond as
          a natural wetland, or preserving your pasture or woods
          as a bird or game refuge.  
               In making such a gift, you will be able to take a
          charitable deduction on your income tax for the current
          value of the easement.  The taxable value of your
          property will be reduced because of the legal
          restriction on its development.  And its aesthetic
          value may actually increase because of the restriction,
          and in many cases so does the resale price, because the
          buyer knows that the property will always be protected
          by the conservation buffer zone.
               So if your property is suitable, do investigate
          the creative possibilities that might be available.  
          
          
